Belmont Forum: call for proposals for Ocean 2

Since 2009, the Belmont Forum, whose members include funding organisations, research councils and regional consortia, has been funding calls for proposals, also known as Collaborative Research Actions (CRAs). Its aim is to promote international transdisciplinary research in the context of global environmental change.

As a full member of the Belmont Forum, the SNSF is participating in the Ocean 2 Action. The purpose of the call is to coordinate actions and projects to address global environmental challenges related to oceans, their high biodiversity, their habitats and ecosystems. It will prioritise three main thematic areas:

• Biodiversity conservation and nature-based solutions
• Ocean-biodiversity-climate integration
• Nature futures, ocean governance and ethics for sustainability

This call seeks to integrate multilateral and collaborative approaches while strengthening the link between societal needs and science and technology. The research must take into account differences between ocean basins, cultural diversity, regional and local specificities, and distinct financial models, By strengthening the science-policy-society interface, the call seeks to foster evidence-based policymaking, improve multi-level and cross-sectoral societal cooperation in ocean governance, and support the effective implementation of solutions for ocean biodiversity and sustainability globally.

Research consortia must include at least three participants from at least three different countries, each requesting support from at least three different funding bodies participating in the call. You can find a list of participating countries on the Belmont Forum’s official website. Given the complexity and scale of the challenges, consortia must be transdisciplinary, and therefore include researchers from:

• the social sciences / humanities / economics
• the natural sciences / physics / engineering
• societal partners (i.e. citizens, industries, civil society organisations and other stakeholders), using a participatory, co-design, co-development and co-implementation approach.

This call has a two-stage submission process: pre-proposals (deadline: 5 March 2026) and full applications (deadline: fall 2026). Please note that it is mandatory to submit pre-proposals first before full proposals can be submitted. Pre-proposals are not submitted via mySNF but via the BFgo system. Applicants will then be informed whether they are invited to submit a full proposal. Applicants based in Switzerland will have to submit the full proposal via the BFgo platform and simultaneously via mySNF.

All the conditions for submitting an application are described in the call document as well as in the national guidelines on the Belmont Forum website.